I Envy....

People who work. I wish I could still work I miss it so much. When hubby and I were coming back from the doctor I felt like we were coming home from work. If I could still work I would love to work in a bakery in a supermarket making bread, cakes and pies. I love watching the show Food Factory and every time I remark to hubby how lucky those people are that they can work.

I miss waiting for the holidays to arrive, now holidays are just another day for us. This old paper company I used to work for back in the '70s is hiring, that was the best place I worked, I wish I hadn't left there. Does anyone have a favorite place they worked and miss it. Just curious

Well, my favorite place to work was back around 1950 when I worked as a long distance operator for Southwestern Bell in Dallas, Texas. It was the year that the telephone operators went on strike and since I was a union member I couldn't cross the picket line, but I really would have liked to be working those lines at that time. Obviously, there's no way to go back to those working days, but the memories are all good. BTW, I was more than happy with my paycheck back then and the strike wasn't my idea.

Hi StarLite. I kind of have the opposite view. For most of my working life I've been very focused on saving and investing so that I could quit the 9-5 crunch and spend more time on activities that I enjoy. But as you say, many people *enjoy* the work they do, so for them it is great to have a 40-50 year career. I wish I had found a field that really drew my interest to where I would wake up and look forward to working that day.

The one job I kind of enjoyed was my first year out of college I worked for a video game company. I was low man on the totem pole, a production assistant I think the job title was. Still, it was interesting to assist the various groups and see what they did, from the artists to the programmers to the managers. I learned a good deal from the 12 months I spent there. Kind of funny, but the one guy I spent a lot of time learning from was a real go-getter, a natural leader type. I've been following his career arc ever since, as he appears a lot in a game magazine I subscribe to. Latest issue had a feature on him again, and now he is a corporate vice president for Microsoft leading all of their gaming developers! Pretty cool to see compared to his humble beginnings. For everyone I hear say that the American dream is dead, he is living proof that a ton of hard work and a never give up attitude combined with self confidence and coolness under pressure can lead to great things.

When I was alone I loved going to work everyday to be with my friends, I hated holidays because I was always alone, work was all I had, then I met hubby at work, I was his supervisor. The worse job I had was my first and only office job, if you play Hawk Manor, Ellen Wolford is based on a person I worked with in the office. I worked mostly factories even though I didn't need to, I wish I had known that the last factory was the one that was going to cripple us both, the things you never think of. Well folks I'm off to bed, take care everyone

Hi lakerz, So, tell me to mind my own business, but WHY did you leave a job that you kind of enjoyed? I also have the feeling that the go-getter, leader type wasn't working hard but rather doing what came naturally! That's why he was so good at it. He was lucky to have been born at the right time and in the right place to be able to do what he wanted to do.

mindysue - Even though I kind of enjoyed it, the pay was not good at all and the prospects of climbing the ladder at that particular company were not so hot. When I graduated college the job situation was not looking so great. Not as bad as 2009, but not exactly nirvana either. So I took the first job that was offered to me even though the pay was way too low for what I was looking and did not have anything to do with the degree I just finished getting. After more searching while I was on the job, I finally received another offer that was more in tune with my degree and paid a lot better. So that's why I left.

As for my friend, there is a saying I like that goes, 'luck favors the prepared'. Timing of opportunities is a factor, I agree. Certain personality traits people are born with can give them an advantage over others, being outgoing, having a high IQ and/or looking like a movie star are all factors that one more or less has to be born with. I'm sure my friend had some advantages that gave him an advantage. But I will also say that he had a crazy good work ethic and literally would be the first person to show in the morning and the last to leave. Whatever needed done he would do it and then immediately look for the next best way to help out. I've only known a few people like that (4 to be exact), and they are all finding great success in their careers. Who knows, maybe even that is just something a person is born with (or not). I tend to think personal drive is something people learn for themselves. Some truly have drive, some less so. I can say that my drive was not as high as his. I always aimed to do a good job at work but not focus on it to that extent. So, while I had a good career path, I was never of the short list of any company to be president or CEO. I'm okay with that, it is what it is. But I still enjoy following the amazing careers of the few people I've met who I just can see had big ambitions and would not be content until they achieved them.